Elsina Mmaphori Bokaba
Secretary, Infinite Family International and Infinite Family NPC
Elsina Mmaphori Bokaba was an Infinite Family Net Buddy for three and a half years, from 2009-2012 and is now a Net Blazer, blazing her way as a first-generation member of South Africa’s formal workforce. She grew up in Alexandra Township and attended Alexandra High School. She is the only family member, including her mother and sister, to complete high school, which she did with a Bachelor’s matric qualification. Ms. Bokaba became certified as a Cathodic Protection Technician (“CPT”) during a two-year internship at Isinyithi and then was hired as their first female CPT. She obtained her National Diploma in Electrical Engineering in March 2024. Today, she travels Africa-wide to evaluate industrial and infrastructure components, including storage vats, bridges, pipelines and ships, affected by moisture and other sources of degradation. Since joining Isinyithi, Ms. Bokaba has built her mother a house, bought a car, and purchased her first home. Ms Bokaba currently lives with her husband in Riverside, Johannesburg.
Katleho Lebata
Infinite Family International and Infinite Family NPC
Katleho Lebata is a senior investment risk professional with a MSc in Global Finance (Fordham University), a BSc in Actuarial Science(University of Pretoria), and 19 years of expertise leading investment risk management initiatives across diverse financial landscapes. He has a deep understanding of developmental investments, financial analysis, regulatory compliance, and strategic planning within the investment sector. He served as Senior Manager for Public Investment Corporation (PIC) the largest Fund Manager in Africa. In that role, he supported billions of US dollars in investments into small to large matured business firms to drive the Funds’ expansion into new territories such as the rest of SADC and Sub-Saharan Africa at large. Earlier in his career, he also worked in finance for various international and local companies such as Nestle, SABMiller, ABSA, and First National Bank. Prior to serving as a board member of Infinite Family, Mr. Lebata was the Executive Manager of The Association of Black Securities and Investment Professionals (ABSIP) and later served on the Board of ABSIP as an Executive for Young Professionals. Mr. Lebata splits his time between Pretoria and the Eastern Cape. In his spare time, he is a livestock farmer specialising in cattle and sheep. He is also interested in logistics with a focus on passenger and scholar transportation.
Rachel Lovett
Secretary, Infinite Family International and Infinite Family NPC
Rachel Lovett was an Infinite Family Video Mentor from 2010 to 2019. Ms. Lovett is an organizational development, strategic communications and fundraising consultant working with non-profit and for-profit companies in the United States and Ghana. Previously, she served as the Interim Executive Director of Thriving in Place and the Managing Director of War Child USA. War Child is a global non-profit that works with war-affected communities to help children and their families via access to education, economic opportunity, and justice. Rachel also managed the $64.5M capital campaign for Theatre for a New Audience to build its first home in the Downtown Brooklyn Cultural District. She is also on the Board of Clinton Housing & Development Company and the Advisory Board of Harlem School of the Arts. Rachel holds Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a Master of Public Administration from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. She lives in San Francisco, California, Goshen, New Hampshire and Lisbon, Portugal.
Palesa Makobe
Chair, Infinite Family International and Infinite Family NPC
Palesa Makobe is a Director/Partner at EY who serves as the Africa FAAS Leader and Southern African Cluster leader. Her work in FAAS covers a wide range of accounting and reporting, transaction accounting, treasury, and sustainability services. Prior to joining EY, she was Senior Manager – Finance and Change Management with Old Mutual Corporate, Partner/Director at Deloitte (South Africa) and filled several roles at KPMG, including Head of Global Mobility, Africa. Ms. Makobe completed her Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Witwatersrand and her Honours in Accountancy at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. She completed an Advanced Certificate in Emerging Markets and Country Risk Analysis at Fordham University, a Master of Business Administration at Columbia Business School and London Business School, and an Executive development programme at Duke University. She lives in Johannesburg.
Andre Nel
Chair, Infinite Family International and Infinite Family NPC
Andre Nel is a passionate entrepreneur and social impact advocate, owning two successful businesses in the Western Cape, South Africa: Clean My Bed Atlantic Seaboard and Tutor Doctor Cape Town North. Before establishing his own ventures, Andre served as General Manager of Sustainable Development at Pick n Pay and later as Foods Programme Manager at Woolworths. His long-standing commitment to youth empowerment is exemplified by his involvement with Infinite Family since 2018, a partnership he initiated as the General Manager: Sustainable Development at Pick n Pay. He holds an Honors Degree in Psychology from the University of Stellenbosch, an MBA from Stellenbosch Business School, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Business from Cambridge University. Andre resides in Cape Town with his partner and their two young children.
Joseph Sacca
Chair, Infinite Family International and Infinite Family NPC
Joseph Sacca is a Partner at Baker & Hostetler LLP specializing in securities and commercial litigation. Previously, he was a Partner with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Prior to joining Skadden Arps, Mr. Sacca was law clerk to Judge Clarence C. Newcomer of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Mr. Sacca serves on the Federal Bar Council Public Service Committee, which is dedicated to providing legal representation to those otherwise unable to afford it and to providing non-legal public service in a variety of areas. He received a B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from the Temple University School of Law, where he served as the managing editor of the Temple Law Review. Mr. Sacca lives in Asheville with his wife and their two children.
Amy Conrad Stokes
Founder and CEO, Infinite Family International and Infinite Family NPC
Amy Conrad Stokes has spent more than 35 years working in all areas of business planning, start-up and ongoing management. Following the adoption of her son, Calder Qhawe, from South Africa in 2003, Ms. Stokes was inspired to develop an Internet platform using video technology to enable face-to-face distance mentoring. After two years of research, development and team building, she launched Infinite Family in 2006. Ms. Stokes began employing and mentoring at-risk teens while working at Chicago’s Shorebank Corporation in 1996. While at Shorebank, she created and ran a division called Studio Air, a business that employed teens from Chicago’s gang influenced South Shore neighborhoods. It was here that she learned the power of mentoring in the life of a teen with few positive role models or economic choices. Ms. Stokes started her professional career as part of Andersen’s Consulting Strategic Services team in Chicago, then San Francisco. She graduated from Kalamazoo College magna cum laude with a B.A. degree in economics (Honors) and French and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Ms. Stokes and her husband live in New York with two of their three children.
Booi Themeli, PhD
Infinite Family International and Infinite Family NPC
Dr. Booi Themeli is the Director of the Fordham University Ubuntu Academic Service Learning Program. In addition, Dr. Themeli is a Professor of Economics at Fordham University, teaching courses in African Economic Development, Law and Economics, Business Statistics, Ethics and Economics, Corporate Social Responsibility and Poverty Alleviation, Project Monitoring and Evaluation (Ateneo University, Philippines), and Economics of Emerging Markets (University of Pretoria, South Africa). He also serves as the coordinator of the collaboration agreement between Fordham University and the University of Pretoria in South Africa. Under this collaboration agreement, Dr. Themeli coordinates and leads various student and faculty exchange and study abroad programs between the two universities, both at undergraduate and graduate levels. He received his MA (Economics) from Western Illinois University (USA), M Com from Rhodes University (South Africa); and PhD from Fordham University. During his studies, Dr. Themeli was the recipient of the prestigious Fulbright and Rockefeller Fellowships. Prior to Fordham, he taught at both the University of Cape Town (South Africa) and at Rhodes University (South Africa). His research focuses on Public Enterprise Restructuring, Privatization, Public Policy Issues, Labor Markets, Ethics, and Impact Investing as well as African Economic Development. Over the years, Dr. Themeli has been a consultant at non-governmental organizations and private sector institutions in Africa and the United States. His primary residence is currently in New York but his family home remains in Ngwenani, South Africa. Dr. Themeli travels to South Africa an average of eight times each year.
Kevin Travis
Treasurer, Infinite Family International
Kevin Travis is an Executive Vice-President at Curinos, where he is a senior client officer, advising large banks in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada on issues of expansion and revenue growth, including new market entry, new distribution strategies, network optimization, and customer segmentation. Prior to joining Curinos, Mr. Travis lived and worked in Johannesburg, South Africa as a Resident Vice-President at Citibank. From 1996 to 2000, he was part of the team responsible for growing Citibank’s new office from 40 to 400 employees across multiple business lines. In his role, he became very familiar with the political, economic, and social issues facing South Africa, and more broadly Southern and Eastern Africa. He has traveled widely in Africa and is a frequent visitor to the continent. He also co-founded a digital financial aggregator in 2000 where he served as Chief Strategy Officer. Kevin is an early-phase investor and board member at Energicity Corp, the largest solar mini-grid utility in West Africa. Kevin holds a BA in History and French from Tufts University and attended the College of Law in London. He lives in Vermont, where he recently bought and renovated an old inn and is turning it into the best small wedding venue in New England.